Chip Gaines: I Want to Honor My Wife, Be a Good Dad and Hold On to My Faith

Chip Gaines: I Want to Honor My Wife, Be a Good Dad and Hold On to My Faith

By Movieguide® Staff

Chip Gaines may be on the forefront of home renovation television, but he has a list of priorities well ahead of fixing up the latest home on his list.

“When I look out across the whole landscape of my little corner of the world, there are plenty of places where I fall short,” Gaines writes in the summer issue of The Magnolia Journal. “I’m known to be easily distracted, for one thing. In general, me and time have this way of losing track of one another. And sometimes, I can let some of the commitments I’ve made slip through my hands.

“But there are other commitments—the big ones—that I hold on to with everything I’ve got. Honoring Jo, being a good dad, my faith, trying to do what’s right even when it’s not easy, building something that helps other people. Those are commitments I’ve made that I won’t compromise. My nonnegotiables. No matter how much the details and circumstances of my life may change, and no matter what storms come my way, you watch: I’m going to get those right.”

Gaines, who says he lost his way when some of his FIXER UPPER fame got to his head, reiterated his pledge to his faith and family.

Gaines previously opened up about some of his struggles with Oprah Winfrey on her program SUPER SOUL SUNDAY.

“Really what happened — and was the truth for Jo and I — was it was no big deal for her, but for me to become famous, I lost a part of myself that was really … it was sad,” Gaines said.

“That year off I really think Jo and I were able to hunker down and really kind of try to unpack what it was about fame that seemed so incompatible with my personality,” he explained.

Now, Gaines says he’s learning how to navigate it all.

“When I start to feel the pressure of a world that is trying to sway or dictate my behavior to make one of my nonnegotiables negotiable, I go back to the list of things in my life that are an unwavering part of who I am,” he said. “It took me a while, but do this enough times and you start to realize the importance of safeguarding what matters to you most.”

He continued, “‘Cause I’ve seen the way it plays out. People who are willing to negotiate everything can end up standing for nothing. People who hold fast to their nonnegotiables, on the other hand, erase the space between who they are and who they want to be.”